A little Christmas surprise for all my supporters! Our own rendition of Irving Berlin's "White Christmas", inspired by the unfortunately unpublished but incomparable arrangement by Jascha Heifetz for violin and orchestra. 
(This recording is a draft version of what will be included on "My Dusty Gramophone" album, please follow this link to find out more: www.dunjalavrova.com/my-dusty-gramophone)
Share if you like! Happy holidays! :-)

White Christmas

The Pythagoras Ensemble

Rehearsal recording of a clip from Philip Cashian's String Quartet No.1 (1988)
 Rehearsal for our residency at VAULT Festival 2014 at the Vaults, Southbank.  This piece will be performed during the Decomposed Jazz concerts (12 and 14 Feb) where we will be playing avant-garde contemporary music alongside jazz deep underground beneath Waterloo Station.

11-15 February 2014 @ 19:30
MORE INFO:
https://www.thevaultfestival.com/pythagoras-ensemble/

Philp Cashian String Quartet No.1 (1988) - Clip | The Pythagoras Ensemble

Composer:  György Ligeti 

Sonata for Viola Solo
2nd Movement: Loop 

"The title refers to the form; the same melodic figures are repeated, continually varied rhythmically and played progressively faster in tempo.  Double-stoppings are played throughout with one of the notes always being an open string.  The performer is therefore compelled to carry out daring position changes which in the fast section of the movement creates a 'dangerous virtuosity'.  In addition, this movement must also be played in the spirit of jazz: elegant and 'relaxed'. " -  György Ligeti

Ligeti - Sonata for Viola Solo - Loop (1991)

Live recording

The Sonata for Viola and Piano, Op. 147 is the last composition by Dmitri Shostakovich. Completed in July 1975, just weeks before his death, it is dedicated to Fyodor Druzhinin, violist in the Beethoven Quartet. 

Shostakovich - Viola Sonata Op 147 - I. Moderato

Shostakovich - Viola Sonata Op 147 - II. Allegretto

The Pythagoras Ensemble was founded in 2011 and is already developing a reputation for diverse and innovative programming in performances throughout the UK and Europe.

Our intention is to explore the extremes of a diversified concert experience where the lines between genre-classification become blurred.

The Ensemble is a collective of musicians who each bring extensive experience in musical styles from Early Music to Jazz, Latin American, Contemporary, Classical, and Rock.
 
Our musicians perform all over the world as soloists, chamber musicians and with some of London’s leading orchestras, including the London Symphony Orchestra, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the Philharmonia Orchestra and the Britten Sinfonia. They work regularly with successful Chamber Music and Early Music ensembles, in Jazz Clubs and in the recording studio. 

The Pythagoras Ensemble varies in size according to the instrumental demands of the repertoire. This allows for flexibility of programming for large or small-scale works.

Our aim is to challenge the senses and to inspire our audiences to think outside the box, redefining expectations of the traditional Classical concert.  

Clifton Harrison | Artistic Director